How do you lose a second?
Fans – along with the Detroit broadcasters – were wondering that after the Wings scored a power-play goal on a double-minor penalty.
Anaheim Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov was whistled for high sticking Red Wings forward Christian Fischer. The Detroit winger made sure to show the officials the cut to his eye, resulting in a double-minor for high-sticking.
The Wings took advantage, scoring on the power play to cut the Ducks’ lead to one.
The penalty was called at 15:31. The goal, from Alex DeBrincat, came at 17:31. After a discussion and review, the officials let Mintyukov out of the box, with the teams returning to even strength.
What happened here?
It starts with the Penalty Timekeeper, who is responsible for the time. From Rule 35.1:
The Penalty Timekeeper shall keep, on the Penalty Record form, a correct record of all penalties imposed by the Referees including the names of the players penalized, the penalties assessed, the duration of each penalty and the time at which each penalty was imposed.
The Penalty Timekeeper shall inform penalized players and the Penalty Box Attendants as to the correct expiration time of all penalties. In the event of a malfunction of the penalty time clock, the game clock shall be utilized to determine the expiration time of each penalty. Otherwise, the penalty time clocks shall be the official timing device for all penalties that require a team to play with less than five skaters. Players shall only be released from the penalty box when indicated by the penalty time clock or as otherwise covered in the playing rules.
The Situation Room then gets involved, as it did in this case, to review any potential clock issues, under Rule 37.6:
In the event of any dispute regarding time, the matter shall be referred to the NHL Situation Room for adjustment, and its decision shall be final.
The league was looking to confirm the time of the penalty call. Mintyukov went in at 15:31. If this were a minor penalty, he would be able to return to the ice at 17:31. Since it was a double-minor, his second penalty started at 17:31 — exactly when DeBrincat scored. Since the first penalty had ended and the second was active, the Detroit goal ended the power play.
Of course, the broadcast reviews can be misleading; they showed only the game clock. The official clock for penalty timing isn’t the game clock, but the penalty clock, as noted above.
No time disappeared. The officials – with some help from the Situation Room – got the call right.
The Anaheim Ducks won the game 4-3. Referees were Francois St. Laurent (#8) and Kevin Pollock (#33) with linesmen Shandor Alphonso (#52) and Julien Fournier (#56).
